Chapter 18
Chapter 18
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 18
Chapter Title: The Better Gamer Is the Big Brother
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In an advertising studio in Ilsan, Gyeonggi-do.
Victory Jeon Woo-seung was there filming a commercial.
The world's top pro gamer in the world's most popular game.
He was still writing his undefeated legend, but he had to pay attention to so many things beyond the game itself.
Because he was a superstar.
'What a shame.'
It would've been so much fun to sync up with Legend after such a long time.
But with his schedule completely packed for the next two weeks, there was no way he could commit to content that took that long.
And he couldn't very well tell them to wait two weeks, either.
Bzzz.
An alarm rang from the phone he'd just picked up.
[Tryit TV: Jeon Jeonseol Stream Start Notification] [Victory Streak: Let's Hit Level 30! (One Assistant Available)] [Category: Teamfight Arena] An assistant, huh.
She must've found someone to play with.
He couldn't help but wonder who they thought could fill his shoes.
💬 Chat — Viewer Assistant? — Viewer Why "assistant" instead of duo lol — Viewer Newbie vibes even here? — Viewer Take off the mask and go public duo! — Viewer No way, Victory? The sudden joint stream had viewers wondering the same thing as Victory.
Who on earth was going to stream with her?
—"Hello, this is Wild from Team Proud."
💬 Chat — Viewer Whoa — Viewer Insane — Viewer Connections on another level — Viewer Thought she was just a noob but she's got royal bloodline — Viewer Victory's friend and Wild's friend too lol — Viewer Birds of a feather flock together, huh — Viewer If I become friends, can I hit rank 1 with Team A too? — Viewer You don't become rank 1 friends—you have to be rank 1 to get friended — Viewer Harsh... 'Jun hyung's the real deal.'
When asked who could even stand a chance against Victory, the first name that came up was always Wild Lee Jun from Team Proud.
Sadly, Wild had lost every major matchup decisively, handing all the trophies over to Victory.
Even so, the only team that had ever dented Victory's record—even if just a set loss here or a few points there—was Team Proud with Wild.
Domestic league runner-up twice, Worlds runner-up once—the living embodiment of runner-up, Lee Jun.
Who unfortunately shared a name with someone else, earning him the mocking nickname "Jun Jun" or 22.
But he was still an incredible player.
Victory just stood one step higher.
Victory recalled a memory.
Back in the days when all three of them played the same game over and over.
"Let's keep rolling with the shoot."
With the director's call, Woo-seung had to turn off the stream and get back to work.
'Really wish I could.'
But soon enough, the three of them would game together again.
Maybe even at the top of Challenger ranks.
The thought made Woo-seung smile.
"Your expression's brightened up. Something good happen?"
"Feels like I'll get a nice present before league starts."
"You've won every tournament you've entered so far. You deserve the best treatment."
It's not from the team.
It's an old friend coming with a huge gift.
'By now, they've probably figured out I'm a pro.'
The little game he and his viewers had been playing with Legend—keeping his pro identity hidden.
With Wild straight-up announcing he was from Team Proud, that game was over.
Woo-seung felt a twinge of regret that he couldn't reveal it himself for the shock value.
Was there no better timing?
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 'Team Proud? Like some kind of agency?'
It was the curse of shallow knowledge.
Seol-ah had lived far from the gaming world for a long time.
But she'd vaguely overheard kids in the hospital waiting room chattering: "Pros have low solo queue ranks. They focus hard on tournament prep, no time to grind points."
She hadn't caught the full details.
But it was true.
When discussing a pro's career, solo queue rank was barely mentioned.
Tournaments mattered far more.
No matter how long you held solo queue #1, it was nothing compared to a tournament win.
But this was an exception.
Stove League.
The off-season gap after Worlds and before the domestic spring season.
Pros flooded solo queue, grinding their ranks.
Not climbing didn't tank their rep...
But these were people who loved the game so much they'd gone pro.
Most had insane competitive drives.
It was what they were best at.
And it was fun.
So most pros dove into climbing.
The result: Victory at #1, Wild at #2, and nine pros in the top 10.
Hobbyists vs. professionals.
There was bound to be a gap.
Unaware of all this backstory, Seol-ah jumped to her conclusion.
'High rank means not a pro—must be a full-time streamer.'
The verdict.
'All three are streamers? This is hilarious.'
Her old friends all playing on the same field.
Could anything top this for fun?
💬 Chat — Viewer Victory's '03-born, Wild's '99—how are all three friends? — Viewer What's Streamer's age? "Does that even matter? In gaming, the best player is hyung. So I'm the big bro."
—"Who was it that came crying for help 'cause they couldn't go undefeated solo?"
"That's 'cause this game's designed as a team game where solo carry is tough."
—"Yeah, yeah. Bet I'm way better at this team game."
Forbes' top phrase to ignite men's pride battles.
"You suck at the game. I rock it more."
💬 Chat — Viewer Pride battle igniting lol — Viewer Time to sort the pecking order? — Viewer You! Rooftop, now! — Viewer Arena Duel go? 1v1 was a huge factor in Teamfight Arena.
Not everything, of course, but excelling there opened tons of opportunities.
Best part? You could test it right then and there.
"Wanna sort the pecking order? Loser calls winner 'hyung' for the day."
—"You're on."
Recent league record: Spring 5th, Summer runner-up, Worlds runner-up.
Wild, captain of Team Proud—the undisputed #2 team.
Vs. a supposed noob, but a former Magical Fight legend.
A man acknowledged by both Victory and Wild (false), Jeon Jeonseol.
The match of the century was about to begin.
"Uh, what's Arena Duel?"
First, explain the rules.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Teamfight Arena had mechanics to prevent games from dragging.
Games ended at 50 kills, but if one side ran away or turtled, it got boring.
At 5 minutes, one of the four towers at map corners activated. Hold it at 10 minutes for 500 gold and 50% of your current level's XP per player.
At 15 minutes, Arena Event: continuous gold/XP while on the point.
Hold at 20: 1000 gold and +1 level per player.
25 minutes triggered Cataclysm Awakening to force endgame—but later on that.
For 1v1 Arena Duel, they used the 15-minute Arena Event.
—"We both hit level 3 exactly, then clash at the Arena."
Custom settings could trigger Arena Event at 5 minutes instead.
5 minutes was enough time for any champ, any start, to clear three neutral camps, hit level 3, and reach Arena.
Arena activates at 5: fight starts, first kill wins. Simple.
💬 Chat — Viewer 3 levels + 30 sec point = level up, keep that in mind — Viewer Oh, you know that too? — Viewer She's done some Arena Duels lol 'Straight win at level 3, or shove for 30 seconds to level up first. Two options.'
Seol-ah sketched her win plan from chat advice.
'Go with brute force.'
She picked her trusty go-to: Illusionist.
Dodge everything, land everything—how could she lose?
Wild, facing her off... picked...
💬 Chat — Viewer Tinker? — Viewer Conscience exploded lol — Viewer If you don't know, you get hit~ If you don't know, you get hit~ — Viewer Thought it'd be brute force, but cheap strat lol ??? : I give my all in every fight — Viewer ??? : I give my all in every fight — Viewer Freebie pick owned lol A cheesy free-win pick.